Pelosi: Obamacare Will Not Be Part of Democratic Midterm Strategy

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that Obamacare will not be an issue Democrats will be campaigning on as they head into the 2014 midterm elections.

The California Democrat also insisted that "Obamacare" should not be used to describe the president's signature healthcare law, and instead it should be referred to by its formal name, "Affordable Care Act."

"We're not running on or from the Affordable Care Act," Pelosi said in an interview with Vox founder Ezra Klein, adding that she thought Republicans were making a mistake by framing their campaign in opposition to it.

"I think it turns out to be a wash," Pelosi predicted, adding that she thought the law had "lost some of its weight" as a partisan issue. At the same time, she said, Democrats should continue discuss how the law can be improved.

The comments contrast with statements she made just two months ago after Florida Republican David Jolly's surprise victory over Democrat Alex Sink in a special congressional election that centered on Obamacare.

Pelosi insisted at the time Obamacare would be a "winner" for Democrats in November's midterms. The comments were seen as an attempt to ease her party's jitters that the election results suggested the troubled healthcare law could cost them control of the Senate.